Twenty-One Reasons I Love You
by Lesbigwen
Summary: How do I love you? Let me count the ways. Honoka has an additional reason for wanting to be a school idol. This story starts off largely canon-compliant, and will head off on its own path shortly, but still stick fairly close to the main plot. Cover image used with permission, from magnetic-toogay's tumblr :D
1. Chapter 1

**_"_** ** _Honoka?" You ask into the darkness. I nod sleepily, your head a comforting weight on my chest._**

 ** _"_** ** _Why do you love me?"_**

 ** _I sit up and you grumble in protest._**

I was on the verge of tears as I was sitting at the table with Yukiho as she read a magazine on the floor.

 _I can't believe the school is closing. Why is this happening? How could this be?_

As I was lost in thought, I stared around the room vacantly. A pamphlet next to Yukiho's foot caught my eye. I reached over and pick it up; on the front there was a picture of a skyscraper and in bold font the letters 'UTX.'

"This is... UTX?"

"Huh?" Yukiho looked over her shoulder and saw me holding the pamphlet. "Ah, UTX. I'm applying there next year."

"Hmmmm..." I murmured to myself as I flipped through the brochure, her words not yet reaching me. As I flip through it, I noticed a picture of three girls in costumes smiling. One of them had the most vivid green eyes I've ever seen and I thought to myself, _She's kinda pretty._ Before I can ruminate on that further what Yukiho said earlier finally sinks in.

"Ehhhh?! Yukiho, you're not applying to Otonokizaka?" I shouted. The ensuing argument about where Yukiho would be going to school completely distracted me from thinking about your eyes until much later that night. I decided while lying in bed to go see what UTX was all about, and set my alarm earlier than usual.

To my surprise, I woke up when my alarm went off and managed to get out the door before anyone else was really awake.

"See you later!"

I slid the door closed behind me and began running in the direction of UTX. Before I got twenty feet, however, Yukiho slid the balcony door open, yawning, and I spun around.

"Yukiho!" I waved the pamphlet in the air. "I'm gonna borrow this!"

Before she could protest, I turned around again and sprinted off. As I ran off, I heard her yelling in confusion to my mom.

Halfway to UTX, I realized I should've let Kotori and Umi know that I was going to walk to school on my own. I paused for a moment to pull out my phone from my bag and write a quick text.

 _kotori, I'm going to be a little late today. dont wait up for me_

I think for a moment then add, _Plz dont let umi get too angry at me. :3_

With my friends notified I began on my way to UTX again.

I almost got lost on my way there, but the pamphlet had very helpful directions on the back and when I looked up, UTX High was in front of my. It was a skyscraper that looked like it was made entirely of glass and screens, completely in contrast to Otonokizaka's brick and mortar style of building.

"This is a school?" I gasped, pressing my face up against the windows of the entryway. A little squeak escaped my lips as I watched the girls in their white uniforms pressing their phones to the scanners. As though my squeak was a signal, a cheer erupted from the crowd beside me.

 _When did they get there?_

I backed up from the window to see what the crowd was looking at and found myself lost in your eyes. They were even prettier than in the picture and on the big screen, I could see specks of gold hidden amongst the green.

"Welcome to UTX High!" you said, along with your two shadows. I couldn't move anymore. Your eyes held me captive, rooted to the spot. My heart rushed back and forth, beating frantically.

 _Who are these girls?_

A few moments later, to my surprise, a voice answered me.

"You should know that. It's in the booklet you're holding," the voice disdainfully. "What have you been reading?"

I tore my eyes from yours to look at the speaker. She was short, with her hair in twintails, and was wearing a facemask and sunglasses. She was tugging roughly on my arm that held the UTX pamphlet.

"Uh... I didn't... wait... how did you know what I was thinking? Are you psychic?"

She found that hilariously funny and laughed so loud I couldn't hear your voice. When she calmed down finally, my eyes were glued to the screen again.

"They're A-RISE. School idols. I suppose you don't know what school idols are either, do you?"

I numbly shook my head.

"School idols are idol groups formed in schools to - HEY! Pay attention when someone's talking to you!"

Before I could remove my eyes from you, a music beat started playing over the speakers. You said something about your new single and previews, and then I was lost in a whole new world of dancing and song.

 **Can I do? I take it, baby. Can I do? I make it, baby.**

I was entranced. The girl in the mask was furious. She ranted to me about respecting your elders and other unimportant stuff, but my eyes and ears only knew you. I followed every twist of your body with rapt attention, every note you sung sent shivers down my spine. Every time you smiled, I smiled too, and every time you winked, I felt a dull throbbing in my heart. I needed to hold you.

All too soon, the song was over, and I came crashing down to reality. The only thought in my head was:

 _How can I see her again?_

I wanted to know you, I wanted you to be my best friend. The girl in the face mask had given up on trying to lecture me and had wandered off somewhere, but I barely noticed. My mind was spinning through possibility after possibility of how I could set up a meeting with an idol. How could someone ordinary like me become friends with a superstar like you?

And in that moment, I had the greatest epiphany. I knew how to meet you on my terms, and keep meeting you! This was the perfect plan! And it had the upside of being able to save the school, too!

 ** _"_** ** _Why do I love you, you ask? Well, first: I love the way your eyes sparkle with happiness."_**

A/N: This is my very first fanfic ever. There will be 20 more parts and potentially a few extra chapters. Most will be in this narrative style. I may come back and add a few lines at the beginning of this chapter, but I haven't decided yet.

I felt like there aren't enough good fanfics out there that are truly happy to read, so I'm trying to make one. The pairing should be obvious by now, but I won't say it if you haven't figured it out yet.

Please excuse any obnoxious typos (but let me know about them). I wrote this on my phone since my computer is out for repairs. Because of that, there likely wont be any chapters till September. I will be pre-writing what I can in my little notebook, but nothing will be posted.

See you after the next chapter!

Gwen


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I have made some small but significant changes to the first chapter. If you read the first chapter before this chapter came out, please go back and read it. It will make this chapter make slightly more sense.**

 ** _"_** ** _So you only like me for my looks, huh?" We both laugh._**

 ** _"_** ** _Of course not, dear."_**

I bounced in my seat the whole way to lunch time. When the bell finally rang, I pulled the idol magazines I'd bought yesterday after school from my bag and slammed them onto Umi's desk. She jumped in surprise, as did Kotori.

"Look! Look! Umi-chan! Kotori-chan!"

Umi gingerly picked up the top magazine in the stack between her thumb and pointer finger. She looked it over as though she was a bomb disposal agent, and eventually decided to open it.

"What am I looking at, Honoka?" she asked after looking through some of the pages. Kotori had picked one up and nodded when Umi spoke.

"They're school idols!"

My excited exclamation did not seem to enlighten my two friends any further, but I expected that. That's why I'd waited until the next day to talk to Umi and Kotori about this, rather than coming into school with a half-baked idea of becoming school idols. Umi would reject it outright no matter what, but if I'd thought about it enough, I could probably convince her. I realized they were still waiting on my explanation.

"School idols are idol groups formed in schools. It seems that they've been on the rise recently, and schools with idols seem to be getting more applicants." I paused to let that sink in. "And yesterday, I had a great idea. I thought to myself: _how can we save the school?_ When I saw the idols, I thought, _hey we can—_ Umi-chan? Where'd you go?"

Kotori had been nodding along ever so slightly to my explanation, and looked surprised that Umi was missing, so it couldn't have been a conspiracy against me. I quickly stood up and ran to the door. Throwing it open, I shouted into the hallway.

"UMI-CHAAAAAN! WHERE DID YOU GO?"

To my despair, however the hallway was empty. Kotori poked her head out into the hallway with me, her ashen hair bouncing as she glanced up and down the hallway. She stepped back into the classroom and looked at me.

"Honoka-chan," her voice sounded cautious, but she wore a small smile. "You were going to suggest we become school idols, right?" Seeing my nod, she pressed onwards. "I think it's a good idea. Umi-chan must just be embarrassed. I'll go talk to her while you think about how to convince her.

I must have looked shocked at Kotori's decisiveness, because she smiled at me and winked.

"I'll find Umi," and with that, she was gone. I slowly walked back to our desks, and decided to sit down at Umi's for a minute and flip through the idol magazine that I'd looked at the most last night, the one that had you on the cover.

Kotori and Umi just barely made it back in time for the classes after lunch. Both of their faces were flushed, and Kotori's hair was much messier than it had been previously. Kotori looked like she'd ran a marathon, and Umi looked somehow out of breath, even as fit as she was. I'd already since moved from Umi's desk, and Kotori shot a smile and thumbs' up to me. Before I could ask her what she meant, the teacher walked in and began rambling on about math.

Umi kept smiling dazedly at Kotori throughout the afternoon, which was highly unusual for her.

As soon as classes were over for the day, I practically teleported to Umi's desk.

"Umi-chan! Where'd you run off to earlier today? I had an idea and you didn't listen!"

She opened her mouth, but I cut her off.

"You're going to stay here and listen to my idea now!"

"Honoka-chan, I think you should listen to what Umi-chan wants to say. It may save you some trouble," Kotori's voice was soft, and I hadn't noticed when she'd stood up and walked around to Umi's side. Her hand was resting on Umi's right shoulder. Umi was shaking a little and she opened her mouth a few times. I watched eagerly as Umi tried to steel herself to make whatever declaration she was about to make.

"Honoka…" her voice was quiet. "I- uhh. I want to…" she trailed off and I leaned in.

"I'd like to…" Kotori whispered something into Umi's ear and she blushed harder than she was already.

"What I'm trying to say is that… I'd like to try being a school idol!"

My hand that was supporting me as I leaned on the desk slipped out from under me and I fell. There was a loud bang as my forehead hit the table and two shouts of "Honoka!"

I sat down back at my desk for a moment, while Kotori ran to go grab a band-aid for the cut on my forehead. Umi was apologizing for some reason, repeatedly, but I didn't care about that. As soon she paused to take a deep breath in, I interrupted her.

"Umi-chan, did you mean it?"

There was silence. Kotori arrived with a band-aid and made me sit still while she put it on my forehead.

"Umi-chan?"

Kotori looked over at Umi. Umi blushed again. She was doing a lot of that that day. I didn't fully understand it.

"Yes."

I squealed in delight, and hugged Umi.

 _This is the first step towards meeting Kira Tsubasa!_

 ** _"_** ** _The second reason I love you is because of how cute you look in an idol costume!"_**

A/N: Hi again everyone! Here's the second chapter of 21 Reasons I Love You. Again, I edited the first chapter in a very significant way. I didn't include the beginning piece and the ending piece was expanded upon in the original version. I had written them but was worried about how they would be perceived. I decided before posting this chapter that the story would be greatly improved by the additions I made.

Anyhow, I have my computer back, so I should be posting much better and quicker now. Expect the next chapter in the first 10 days of September, I think. If it doesn't come out by then, expect it and a Sunshine! (likely) one-shot to be coming out very soon. I'm thinking of writing one and it may distract me slightly from this project. :P

Gwen

(Oh! I forgot to say this but I **definitely** don't claim to own Love Live! School Idol Project or any of its characters. This is a fanwork based on the characters made for fun and not for profit!)


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